Guess what the tax revenue will be used for?

Indiana Governor Holcomb decided to come clean in a recent interview. The supposed .10 cent gas tax increase which was to strictly fix the states “crumbling” infrastructure will be used for other spending areas. Readers of HoosierEcon shouldn’t be shocked at the below response since this blog account has written numerous times about how states are financially in trouble.

Here’s what the Governor said in a recent interview if it was true that the newly implemented gasoline tax was going to be used in other spending areas:

“The senate pointed to all the uncertainty about what was going to happen or not happen in terms of the Affordable Care Act and if, all of a sudden, two years from now or six years from now, we were receiving fewer federal dollars, how would we make up for that difference, and not have to raise taxes or not have to kick people off the rolls? 

“The senate was very mindful of cyclical economies. Right now, things are very good, all things considered. We are very healthy financially. But if we hit a national downturn, we need to make sure we don’t return to the days when we’re delaying payments to our schools or universities. Their thought was prudent, so the senate, the house, and myself all agreed to that measure if we hit a severe downturn or if the ACA changes in such a dramatic way that we had to make up for a loss of federal dollars.”

Indiana taxpayers basically got taxed for future Obamacare expenditures i.e. medicaid growth. The Indiana Senate pretty much knew all along they would use this tax for an Obamacare tax revenue cushion.